For Immediate Release
Jack Mozloom, 202-406-4450 or 609-462-5610 (cell)
National
Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) laments President’s announcement that
he’s rejecting the Keystone Pipeline project
Washington, DC (November 6, 2015) – The country’s
leading small business group this morning said the President’s decision to
reject the Keystone Pipeline, designed to bring Canadian crude oil to the Gulf of
Mexico for refining, is as short sighted as it is predictable.
“We’re not surprised by this,” said NFIB President and CEO Dan Danner. “But we are disappointed. Oil prices have collapsed but the commodities
markets are cyclical. It won’t be long
before American consumers and small businesses feel the consequences of the
President’s decision.”
The Keystone project has drawn fierce ideological
opposition from environmental groups who believe that cheap gas prices encourage
Americans to drive more. But affordable gas
prices are important to small businesses and their customers.
“The price of everything that we consume is
affected by the cost of transportation, and a big part of that is the price that
we pay at the pumps,” explained Danner. “When
gas prices are high not only does that eat away at small business profitability,
but it discourages consumer purchases.
It’s a double hit to the bottom line.”
Over the past several years the price of oil has fallen
sharply because of increased supply and a slowing global economy. But those conditions won’t last forever, said
Danner.
“This is a very short sighted decision that
assumes that oil prices will remain low forever,” he said. “They won’t, of course, and the next oil
shock will be worse, in part, because the President has allowed our energy
policy to be dictated by the irrational objections of special interest groups
on the left.”
For more information about NFIB please visit www.nfib.com.
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